Numanthia 2000

I got this wine from a trip to Barcelona from Vila Viniteca and had the wine yesterday afternoon. The Numanthia Bodega was established in 1998 and purchased by LVMH in 2008, so it is expected for the their prices to start going up with the 2008 vintage. The Numanthia-Termes Toro Termes 2005($27), which is an entry level wine of the Bodega, was selected the number two wine in Wine Spectator Top 100 for 2009; 2004 was an exceptional vintage for this Bodega producing a 100 points wine: Termanthia that sells for about 400 EUR now. So there is a proven track record for what this producer is capable of. They are using only Tempranillo for their wines produced in Toro, a very promising region in Spain.

Numanthia 2000

Price: 35 EUR

Alc: 14.5%

The Numanthia 2000 comes from 50+ years old Tempranillo vines and spent 18 months in new French oak.

The wine has a nice almost opaque dark red with purple hues color. The nose evolved during the 2 h while I had it: initially earthiness, licorice, ripe red cherries, tobacco, cassis and towards the end pure sweet plum and hints of vanilla, with nicely integrated oak. In the mouth the wine is big and heavy, full body, with still firm tannins, but with a velvet mouth-feel, ripe red cherries, dark chocolate, tobacco. A heat from the alcohol is present on the mid palate which is a bit troubling. The wine finishes with a medium plus to long aftertaste with dark chocolate and ripe sour cherries. I find the wine a little bit unbalanced as the alcohol can be clearly felt in the mouth. I was really expecting more balance from a 1o years old wine, but the wine reminded me more of a young Grenache based wine with all the heat that can sometimes be felt especially in some Chateauneuf du pape wines. Good+ to Very good

I would have scored this wine higher, as it has a beautiful complex nose, a long aftertaste but I was really troubled by the heat that sometimes can overpower the fruit. Perhaps pairing the wine with big food would balance that heat and make this wine more pleasant. Consumed alone can be tricky. I liked much better the Numanthia 2006 which even younger and having 15% alcohol shows beautiful balance.